I am an adamant recycler, I separate at home and at work and have often carried a crumpled up newspaper in my jacket so that it can be properly discarded.
The issue i have is that unless I have a bag it is completely inconvenient to lug a bunch of cans or bottles around but in a city which sees itself as progressive, NYC still often acts as if it is stuck in the 50's. Although our residents are required by law to recycle in their homes, there are no such laws for pedestrians as any corner trash can -if you can even find one anymore- is heaping with food wrappers, copies of AM New York, half eaten sandwiches, fliers for $11 haircuts and a ton of cans and bottles
So I would often stand there wry the dilemma of either throwing my soda can in the trash or forced to carry it around all day because there just isn't a good recycling option.
The reality is that when I do bring it back recycle it at home in Brooklyn that my blue recycling bags will get rummaged through by those crazy Chinese elders who walk up and down the streets collecting bottle and cans for the $0.05 redemption fee. Now they are generally clean but sometimes they leave our sidewalk looking like Fresh Kills with seagulls hovering overhead
It got me to thinking. Why the hell am I going trough all this trouble lugging these things back and forth if they are just going to get fished out of my trash anyway. I figure since I bought the can in Manhattan, the local economy (if you can call it that) should benefit. I am sure Manhattan has their fair share of crazy garbage can scavengers, so why should I not help them out
They make a couple of bucks and I can be reasonably sure my cans are being properly recycled. It is a win-win for everybody.
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